


The Totally Crazy Adventures of the Astro Ambassadors

by EstelGreen



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aliens, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Fluff, Marvel Universe, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27137936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelGreen/pseuds/EstelGreen
Summary: After they return from their six-month mission in space, Daisy, Daniel and Kora want just a bit of peace and quiet before they are shipped off on another space adventure. But Mack has other plans for them since they are needed for one more short mission. However, things might not go according to plan and without the extraction team, they have to rely on a teleporting device they've never used before.
Relationships: Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Daniel Sousa, Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 14
Kudos: 55





	1. Just One More Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I am back after three months of...reading other fanfictions. I wasn't expecting to come up with something that I would consider worthy of being written down, but here I am, still as crazy about Dousy as three months ago. I had a lot of ideas and many of them will come together in this fic. That's why I decided to write a multichapter one. I'll be adding tags as the story progresses. Updates should come every week on Wednesday. Hopefully.  
> So, the story begins in...October 2020 (oh, how much I would love to live in their corona-free universe), about four months after the one year jump in the last episode.  
> I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except those few I created. The rest belongs to Marvel Entertainment.

“I like this,” Daisy mumbled contently, twirling a reddish maple leaf in her fingers absentmindedly. She was sprawled on a blanket with her head placed on Daniel’s lap, watching the rustling leaves of the maple tree above her.

It was a nice day in early October. Warm enough for a picnic at their favorite spot in a park yet a bit chilly with the fresh autumn breeze but that was nothing a warm blanket and hot cocoa couldn’t solve.

Daniel stopped reading a book and looked down at her with a smile. “What in particular?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Daisy said unsure, meeting his eyes. “ _This_? Right now, right here. Us. The peace and quiet,” she paused before looking at him again. Seeing his amused expression, she added: “Hey, don’t look at me like that. I can appreciate peace and quiet.”

“Uh-huh. Right. But only for so long before you barge into another storm…or cause it,” Daniel laughed at her mock offended pout.

Daisy playfully smacked him on the arm. “That’s not true and you know it. I don’t cause problems anymore. I am the commander of Zephyr-3.”

“Hmm…Termans would disagree,” Daniel chuckled.

“Hey!” She gasped. “That was on Kora, not me!”

“If you say so,” Daniel shrugged and picked the book up again, a teasing grin spreading on his face. “Quake.”

Daisy groaned. If she ever thought that he’s gonna drop the whole Quake thing after some time, she had never been more wrong. Not when most of the universe out there knows her as Quake.

“Don’t push your luck Danny-boy.”

“Or what? You quake me?” He asked her with a raised eyebrow and a glint in his eyes.

“Definitely not. It’s not a punishment when you actually want it,” she winked at him teasingly. “No, you will sleep on a couch.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t do that.”

“Yes, I would,” Daisy stuck her tongue out and then yelped when Daniel proceeded to tickle her. “You…really…wanna…find…out,” she managed to get out in between giggles.

When he finally stopped his attack, she took a moment to catch her breath, watching his smug expression. “You are a dork,” she said with a huge grin.

“I love you, too,” he told her, a tender smile playing on his lips.

She sat up and cupped his cheek in the palm of her hand. Daniel leaned into her touch and placed his hand on top of hers, the engagement ring on her finger lightly pressing against his palm. He moved her hand to his lips and placed a small kiss on her fingers, his eyes never leaving hers. Well, forget the cocoa, this warmed Daisy up much more. She closed the distance between them bringing their lips together in a short but sweet kiss.

“I love you,” she whispered like it was a secret kept just between the two of them. Their faces lingered close to each other for a while longer, just to enjoy their little bubble. Daisy then changed her position and leaned against Daniel’s side. He snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her even closer and placed a kiss on her temple before grabbing the forgotten book again.

Daisy let out a content sigh. “This is what I meant. I like being out there, exploring the universe with you and Kora and our team but…I love this, too. I missed it for those six months we were away. Just the two of us enjoying some time together without other people and…mission updates and…looming threats…” She looked up at him and let out a soft laugh. “I’m rambling now, aren’t I?”

“I like listening to your rambling,” he said and kissed her temple again. “And I know what you mean. I feel the same way. I like our adventures but I love our time together. Just the two of us. But hey, we have a couple of months before the next mission is scheduled. So, we are okay.”

“Yeah. We have a wedding to attend to,” Daisy grinned at him.

“Uh-huh.” Daniel looked at her with a small smile. “That wouldn’t be very nice if we didn’t show up there now, would it?”

“It definitely wouldn’t. We are too important,” she laughed lightly and put her head on his shoulder.

Daniel shifted his focus to the book again but before he resumed the reading, a memory crossed his mind and he let out a chuckle.

“What?” Daisy asked curiously.

“You know, the first time we came here to have a picnic you said ‘How very square of you’ and how sappy and tooth-rottingly sweet we sound and look. Sitting here under the tree, me reading to you, you laying on a blanket with your head in my lap always trying to hide that big smile of yours…and failing,” he laughed and shook his head. “And now…”

“And now I say I like it,” she mumbled into his shoulder and cringed as she said it. “I think I just…I guess I blame you for that,” she told him lightly.

“Me?” he asked jokingly, turning his head to look at her but Daisy kept staring at her fingers, playing with the engagement ring on her left hand.

“Yeah. I’ve never thought I would like something like this before I met you. An ordinary life. Well, as ordinary as one can get while still working for S.H.I.E.L.D.,” she chuckled softly. “And even before joining S.H.I.E.L.D….I’ve never thought I could have this. I just couldn’t see it for myself, growing up the way I did. And later I’ve thought I…I don’t deserve this.”

“Daisy- “

“So yeah. Uh…I still think we are overly sweet sometimes but…” she looked up and met Daniel’s warm brown eyes, “I like it. I always did. I’ve just never thought I could be this person. And I have you to thank for that. You showed me that I _can_ be this person…that I _deserve_ a little normalcy in my life.” She lowered her gaze again, her hands picking at his shirt this time. “That I deserve to be loved and to love.”

“Of course, you deserve it. You deserve the best things in the universe,” Daniel put the book down and ran his hand through her hair before cupping her cheek and guiding her face to look up at him again. There were unshed tears shining in her beautiful eyes. She tried to blink them away offering him a watery smile. But then with a little shake of her head, she switched back to her joking self.

“Gah! Even now I sound so corny! I don’t even recognize myself sometimes. Kora says you are rubbing off on me. Making me a dorky square like yourself,” she smirked and poked him in the chest. “She says it’s annoying. But you know what? I don’t care.”

Daniel gave her his best lopsided grin. “Because you love this dorky square?”

“Yep. Exactly,” Daisy flashed him the biggest smile. “And…I like to annoy my little sister.”

They were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of Daisy’s phone. She sighed as her hand dived into the back pocket of her jeans, fishing it out. She cursed silently as she saw the caller ID flashing across the screen. There go peace and quiet.

“We were pushing our luck earlier. It’s Mack,” she informed Daniel with a sad smile, knowing that whatever it is, it will involve getting back to work, even if it’s Sunday.

“Hey Director, what’s up?” she asked him lightly.

“Hey Tremors,” Mack started with a tired sigh. The man just keeps working too much. “Listen, I know that it’s a weekend and you’ve just got back from space few days ago but I need you to come in. Both of you, assuming Sousa is there with you.”

“What’s going on? You sound tired,” Daisy remarked worriedly.

“I’ll disclose the details when you get here. Come as soon as you can,” he replied.

“Okay. Uh, we can be there in…thirty?” She said, uncertain, meeting Daniel’s eyes for confirmation. He nodded.

“Great. See you then.”

“See ya.” Daisy kept her eyes on Daniel and shrugged as the call ended.

“So, I guess we won’t finish the chapter today,” he commented, book in hand.

“I guess not.”

* * *

When the duo arrived at Triskelion some twenty minutes later, they bumped into Kora in the lobby. She looked a little disheveled, annoyed expression plastered on her face.

“I guess Mack called you guys, too. On Sunday of all days,” she mumbled with a hoarse voice.

“Were you…sleeping?” Daisy asked her, raising her eyebrows.

“And? It’s Sunday. We came back from space four days ago. I have a lot of sleep to catch up on. _And_ I can finally sleep in a normal bed,” she defended herself fiercely.

“Ooookay. Let’s go find Mack and get this over with so we can all go home and relax…or whatever,” Daisy offered and started to walk towards the elevators.

When they reached Director’s office, Mack opened the door before they even had the time to knock. He quickly ushered them inside and closed the door behind them.

“What- “ Daisy started but Mack cut her off.

“Sagittarians contacted HQ earlier today. They want to meet up and discuss a potential alliance.”

“You really don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Daniel remarked and Mack just shrugged.

“Are you kidding me?” Daisy spoke up a little too loudly, clearly frustrated. “We stopped on Berhert less than two weeks ago on our way home and they refused to talk to us. What changed?”

“They didn’t care to elaborate on that. But they want to meet up today,” Mack informed the three agents.

“Yeah, that’s funny. Since it will take us almost two days to get there. It’s three jumps away and the jump drive needs to charge in between the jumps…so…not today,” Kora explained as she plopped into a chair with a heavy sigh.

“They know that. That’s why they are sending someone to get you,” Mack stated, his hand scratching his beard in thought. “Apparently, they have some kind of advanced tech for interstellar travel without the need to use a spaceship.”

“Well, they are known for their impressive technology. That much we gathered about them by visiting other planets. We didn’t see much ourselves since they didn’t give us the permission to land,” Daisy grumbled still frustrated after the last encounter with the aliens.

“But isn’t it just a different version of our jump drive?” Daniel asked, leaning against Mack’s table. “Like the one we have on the Zephyrs but it moves just people around the galaxy?”

“No. These jump drives…we didn’t invent them,” Mack tried to clarify. “We got one from a crashed Confederacy ship and recreated more, thanks to Deke. So, yeah, he basically stole the technology. The original one could teleport even people themselves without the need of a spaceship. But it was always a one-way trip unless there was another jump drive on the other side.”

“Meaning?” Daniel gave him a confused look.

“Meaning that whatever tech Sagittarians possess, they are probably teleported with the device in hand,” Daisy explained to him and then turned to face Mack. “But Deke redesigned the original jump drive to be wearable. Remember? He used it to get to the temple.”

“And failed to get back to the Lighthouse,” Mack remarked. “Look, whatever they have, we’ll see soon enough. But I have to say, having a device like that in S.H.I.E.L.D. would be very useful. You guys wouldn’t have to spend so much time drifting in between planets and could spend more time at home.”

“Sleeping in a normal bed,” Kora added dreamily.

Daisy raised an eyebrow at her and sighed. She had to admit that it would be a much more comfortable way for visiting planets.

“So, what are our orders Director?” she asked.

“Suit up. They’ll come to get you in two hours,” he paused, thinking. “If they will be willing to trade one of those devices, we have to come up with a suitable counteroffer.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Daniel shrugged. “Considering how they refused to talk to us only to change their mind so suddenly. I don’t really trust them.”

“We’ll do our best and see how that goes,” Daisy fixed everyone with a determined gaze. “Let’s suit up.”

“Just one more adventure for the Astro Ambassadors before a few months break,” Daniel muttered pushing himself off the table.

Kora groaned and Daisy shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips as she led the way out of Mack’s office so they could get ready for their new mission.

* * *

Two hours later they were all gathered in the HQ’s hangar waiting for the Sagittarians to show up. Wearing her Quake suit, Daisy was shuffling her feet nervously, standing between Mack and Daniel. She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was just something unsettling about the way the Sagittarians changed their mind so fast. She doesn’t know much about them but what she does know is that they are a monarchy led by a princess called Daydra who may or may not have some dispute with her uncle who is the head of their military. The last thing Daisy wanted was to get mixed up in family affairs and instead of a new ally make a new enemy. Daniel, being as observant as ever, took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She offered him a grateful smile in return.

Suddenly they were startled by a bright blue light in front of them. They shut their eyes to block the light and when they opened them again two tall grey-skinned aliens stood before them. One was a male and the other was a female, both looking like warriors. The woman had long black hair woven into a braid and her dark grey eyes were studying the humans in front of her cautiously yet with a drop of curiosity. Slightly taller than her, the man had an impressive white mustache and was bald with-

“Is that…a fin on his head?” Kora whispered in Daisy’s ear from behind.

“I…think so?” Daisy whispered back.

“Greetings Terrans. My name is Brodin,” the guy with the fin spoke. “I am a Captain of the Royal Guard and I and my second-in-command, Adlynn, were tasked to bring you to our planet Berhert for the scheduled meeting with Princess Daydra, our fearless leader.”

The group of humans shared a look between each other before Mack spoke up.

“I am Alphonso MacKenzie, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Welcome to Earth. I believe we spoke to each other when you contacted us this morning.”

“That is correct. I see you assembled the small team you wanted to send as emissaries since you will not be attending personally,” Brodin commented, pointing his hand towards Daisy, Daniel and Kora.

“Yes. They are some of our best agents,” Mack looked at the trio standing by his side with a proud smile. “Leaders of the special team tasked with space exploration and acquiring new allies…and assessing the threats from outer space.”

“That has been a wise decision on your part. There are many threats out there,” Adlynn spoke for the first time.

“Yes. We had enough bad luck to cross paths with some of them,” Mack remarked with a sigh. “So, anyway, this is Agent Daisy Johnson,” he put his big hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “She is in command of Zephyr-3 and its space exploring team.”

Daisy smiled at the two aliens and gave them a nod.

“Next to her,” Mack continued, “is Agent Daniel Sousa. He is her second-in-command or a first officer on Zephyr-3.”

“Nice to meet you.” Daniel, as polite as ever, offered them a hand to shake but Daisy could hear an edge to his voice, which was missing its usual warm friendliness.

“Likewise,” Brodin replied with a neutral voice and shook Daniel’s hand as did Adlynn.

Daisy sighed in relief because she could still vividly remember the time when Daniel offered a handshake on a planet where it was considered inappropriate due to rules of no physical contact in public. She had to quake a guard off of him and then explain in length that they didn’t know it was forbidden since on Earth it’s a gesture of friendship. They barely evaded the prison and were immediately exiled from the planet, never to return back. It was impossible to learn the etiquette rules of all the planets before they visited them.

“And finally, this is Agent Kora Johnson. She is one of our best pilots and a valued member of this team,” Mack pointed to Kora who in the meantime moved to stand on Daniel’s other side.

“We came to your planet like ten days ago and you refused to let us land,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Kora!” Daisy hissed warningly while Daniel tensed beside her and Mack ran his hand down his face with a sigh.

“What? It’s the truth. We came as emissaries too and they refused to talk to us. Now they are suddenly willing to,” Kora voiced her concerns.

“We are deeply sorry for that. There was…a misunderstanding on our end that had nothing to do with you,” Adlynn explained with a sad smile.

That seemed to calm Kora down a little but it sparked some suspicions in Daisy’s head. But this was nor time or place to be voicing them.

“It’s okay,” Mack assured them.

“If these are your most trusted agents who can speak on your behalf at the meeting with Princess Deydra, it is my duty now to bring them to our planet safely,” Brodin announced.

“Yes, they have all my trust,” Mack nodded and put his hand encouragingly on Daisy’s shoulder. “Agents, good luck,” Mack added, looking from Daisy to Daniel and Kora who both nodded at him.

“Thank you, Director.” Daisy squeezed his arm in response.

“Thank you, sir,” Daniel said at the same time.

“Let’s go then,” Brodin suggested and held a spherical device, slightly smaller than a soccer ball, in front of him. “Please stand in a circle as close to the device as possible.”

“If I may ask,” Mack spoke up again, “what is that thing?”

“It’s an interstellar and interdimensional teleportation device,” Brodin explained. “It allows us to travel anywhere in the universe or even between the universes. Although I am not sure how much you Terrans know about the Multiverse.”

“It’s the same as multiple timelines, right?” Daisy asked, unsure.

“Yes, but it’s more than just that,” Brodin muttered, looking down at the device he was holding.

“Then, yes…uh, we know something about it,” Daisy looked at Daniel and Kora with an amused grin on her face.

“I am pleasantly surprised. Many races out there have never heard of it,” Adlynn commented, excitement visible in her eyes. “You are much more advanced than we thought.”

“Not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult,” Daniel whispered into Daisy’s ear and she tried hard not to smile.

“Yeah,” Mack sighed, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “you could say we discovered _a lot_ in the past ten years or so.”

“Maybe your friends will share some of those discoveries with us. I would _like_ to hear all about them. They are usually accompanied by interesting stories,” Adlynn couldn’t hide her excitement anymore.

“Sure,” Daisy said, “but you know, these things go both ways. We share if you do too.”

“This will be a very interesting meeting, I can tell,” Adlynn smiled while Brodin shook his head with a sigh.

“That’s why we should be going, _Adlynn_ ,” he noted dryly and held the device in the middle of their small circle.

“Of course, Captain,” Adlynn tried to compose herself and warned the trio of humans: “Get ready.”

Daisy grasped both Daniel’s and Kora’s hands in each of hers. The last thing she wanted was to lose one of them in the vacuum of space or whatever. She didn’t know how that device worked.

Suddenly they were all enveloped by the blue light emitting from the device in the middle. Somehow, in some way, it reminded her of Gordon’s powers.


	2. Welcome to Berhert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you had a nice week. Thank you for your lovely comments on the previous chapter and as promised, here is chapter 2. I hope you like it!
> 
> As always, I am sorry for any mistakes.

It was over sooner than she thought. When the light around them dissipated they were met by a lush green flora surrounding a small square in front of a…palace? Daisy wasn’t sure. The building was definitely huge but it wasn’t overly fancy.

“Welcome to Berhert,” Adlynn said with a friendly smile.

“I will see you to the meeting chamber where you will be joined by the Princess and some of her most trusted advisers,” Brodin informed them and led the way into the palace.

The three agents were looking around with wide eyes drinking in everything around them as they walked down the halls. Daisy also noted the number and positioning of the guards as they passed them on their way.

“Everything is so green,” Kora mumbled quietly. “They have plants everywhere.”

When they reached the meeting chamber, Daisy realized they lost Adlynn somewhere along the way. What a pity. She was starting to like her.

“Please wait here. Princess Daydra will join you shortly,” Brodin instructed them, offering them seats at the table, and then he left.

The trio sat down, Daniel by Daisy’s right hand and Kora by her left, as they looked around the chamber.

“What are we gonna say if they ask about our experiences with other timelines?” Daniel asked, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

Daisy let out a long sigh. She wasn’t really sure about what to say and what to keep to themselves. Some people might be against time travel or meddling with a timestream. There were two people sitting next to her, people she loved dearly, that were taken out of their respective time period and she didn’t want to risk their lives by revealing too much in case Sagittarians would be enraged by such bold actions.

“I think…I think we could mention our time traveling missions,” she said at last, “but I don’t think it would be a good idea to mention that you two are actually from another time…or timeline for that matter.”

“Alright,” Daniel muttered giving Daisy’s fingers a gentle squeeze.

“How long will the meeting last?” Kora mumbled with her head placed on her folded arms on the table.

“You are always asking the same question, Kora.” Daisy said with an eye-roll. “How am I supposed to know that, I’m not a clairvoyant.”

“I just want to go back to bed,” she whined.

“Did you have a company in it or what? Surely you have to have enough sleep after four days off,” Daisy looked at her sister with interest.

“Just three days off. We spent nearly one whole day being debriefed by Mack and getting the reports ready,” she complained.

“Whatever. You are evading my earlier question? Did you have a company?” Daisy asked her again with a teasing grin and a raised eyebrow.

Kora mumbled something incoherently into her arm.

“What was that?” Daisy demanded, moving closer, her smile growing bigger.

But before she could actually get any coherent answer out of her, they were interrupted by the arrival of four Sagittarians. These were dressed differently from the members of the Royal Guard. Their clothes were more formal. The small group consisted of two men and two women. They remained standing in the doorway without a word of acknowledgment towards the three humans.

Daisy stood up, Daniel and Kora following suit, and was already contemplating speaking to them when a fifth Sagittarian entered the chamber, closely followed by Captain Brodin. This one was dressed in something one could only describe as a dress combined with an armor. Her black locks were falling freely almost to her waist in deep contrast to the fabric of the dress that was of red color. It made her look…royal. There was just one little thing that shocked all three agents. The woman wearing that dress.

“I am truly sorry for the little lie,” she told them while beckoning the rest of the group to have a seat at the table. “I just really wanted to have a peek at your world before we took you to ours.”

“So, I guess your name isn’t Adlynn,” Daisy commented, already knowing the answer.

“No, it is not. I am Princess Daydra. But Adlynn really is Captain Brodin’s second-in-command. I just borrowed her identity for a little while,” the princess explained with a welcoming smile. “Anyway, these are my advisers, Tobis, Desmon,” she motioned her hand towards both male advisers, then moving to the females, “Anahi and Thalira.”

All four of them nodded in greeting before sitting down at the table just across from Daisy, Daniel and Kora. The Princess took a seat in the middle of her advisers and motioned for the humans to sit down, too.

“I have to apologize one more time for not letting you land on our planet the other week. As I said, there was a misunderstanding. The military controlling the landing docks made that decision, not me. They _forgot_ to let me know about your request to land and talk about an alliance,” Daydra explained with a hint of frustration.

Daisy shared a quick look with Daniel. Could it be that Daydra’s uncle made that decision? Did he not want her to meet up with them?

“We understand that…things like that can happen,” Daisy replied cautiously.

“So,” Daydra sighed contently dismissing the subject, “having that resolved, I think we can move to the discussion of our potential alliance. And, of course, our servants will get you anything to drink.”

As on cue, two servants stepped into the room and placed three glasses in front of the agents.

“Water?” Asked one of them.

“Yes, please,” Daniel said and the servants poured the liquid into their glasses. Then they moved to the other side of the table to offer the same for the advisers and the princess.

“With that out of the way,” the Princess announced, “let’s talk.

* * *

The meeting was going on for hours. They talked about so many subjects. The Princess was very interested in learning more about humans as well as the trio of humans was interested in Sagittarians. “What is Terra like?” “How many planets belong to your empire?” “For how long have you been exploring space?” “No offense, but does all men have a fin on their head?” (“Kora no!” “It’s alright to be curious. And yes, they do.”) They asked about technology, history, science, religion, politics, and then they slowly shared parts of their own stories, encounters with other alien races, and shared dislike towards some of them. They discussed time travel and multiple timelines or dimensions. With every passing minute, the alliance was becoming more and more real. All three humans warmed up towards the Princess as well as she and her advisers towards the humans.

“Which aliens had Terra the most problems with?” Daydra asked curiously.

“I would say that with the Kree,” Daisy replied, and tried to ignore the shiver that ran along her spine at the mention of them.

“The Kree like to cause problems,” the Princess sighed, “or wars. They even like to meddle with the internal politics of other empires.”

“To destabilize them?” Daniel joined in.

“Mostly. Their spies are very well trained. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether the person in question is one of your own…or them,” Daydra muttered, a dark look crossing her eyes for a fragment of time but Daniel didn’t miss it.

“Seems like you are talking from an experience,” he commented, leaning forward in his seat.

“Terra is not the only planet that has an issue with them. But let’s move on some lighter topics,” she dismissed the ongoing conversation quickly.

Daniel realized that there has to be more to that. Whatever issue they had with the Kree, it might have been bigger than what Daisy and the team had to deal with in the past. And for some reason, Daydra didn’t want to talk about it. He wanted to ask more because they were about to become allies, therefore they needed to know more about the potential threats. If there was a possibility that their alliance could bring bigger problems with the Kree Empire to Earth, they had the right to know. He was just about to voice his concerns when the door into the meeting chamber flew open and another Sagittarian stormed into the room.

“What is this?!” He yelled unhappily, filling the room with nervous energy.

“Oh, hello to you too, uncle,” Daydra said casually, not even bothering to look his way. “We are just discussing the alliance between us and Terra with their emissaries from S.H.I.E.L.D. You certainly remember them. They stopped by over a week ago.”

“Why wasn’t I informed!” His voice rumbled through the air.

“Why should you be? You are not a leader of this empire. I am,” the princess finally looked at him with authority. “And you weren’t interested in hearing them out last time.”

Daniel shared a nervous glance with Daisy. So that was the ‘misunderstanding’ Daydra was referring to. Her uncle wanted nothing to do with them so he refused to let them land since the military is controlling the landing docks.

“Because I know they have nothing to offer us. They are just a nuisance that brings more problems. Just look at how many threats their planet received in the past years,” he kept talking angrily. Then he suddenly shifted his tone to a curious one. “So small, so insignificant, and yet a target of beings that are far more superior than them. I wonder, what makes them so special.”

Daniel caught how Daisy’s hand grabbed Kora’s under the table as it was starting to glow and whispered to her: “No.”

“They are far more advanced than we thought, uncle. Since you are already here, you may as well join us and see for yourself. But we are making the alliance official,” Daydra informed him sternly.

The man grumbled something angrily under his breath, pulled a chair from under the table and sat down, an unhappy scowl remaining on his face.

“Sorry,” Daydra said towards the agents. “Now, where were we?” She paused for a second, thinking. “Oh, right. I wanted to ask- “

“I heard a rumor,” Daydra’s uncle cut her off rudely, his gaze fixed on his hands. “A rumor about Terrans with superpowers. I thought that must be someone’s drunken fantasy, but…,” he paused and looked straight towards Daisy, “…is it, really?”

Daniel gulped and curled his hand into a fist under the table. He knew he wasn’t feeling anxious about this mission just for nothing.

“It’s true,” Daisy answered matter-of-factly, still holding Kora’s hand.

The advisers started to talk over each other in surprise, worry and excitement. Daydra’s uncle sneered, clearly satisfied. _‘Rumor my ass, he already knew about it,’_ Daniel thought.

“Quiet!” The Princess ordered. “So, you really have super-powered individuals. How many?”

“Uh, we don’t know. Some people are just genius inventors and billionaires, some underwent an experimentative treatment, some were in an accident involving a radioactive substance whether it was man-made or alien…and for some…it’s genetic,” Daisy exhaled, trying hard to keep her voice neutral. “One way or another it is hard to know how many powered individuals we have.”

“That is interesting,” Daydra said carefully, “and exciting. Wow. Such a small planet with so much potential.”

“Yeah, the bad guys figured that out, too,” Daisy mumbled grumpily.

“So, Quake is really a Terran?” The Princess asked, leaning forward on her elbows. “I heard some stories but I know better than to believe everything I hear. Mainly when I don’t trust the source,” she added pointedly.

Daisy looked at Daniel anxiously and he moved his hand to grab hers, anchoring her.

“Yes,” she said moving her gaze towards Daydra, “Quake is from Earth.” Daisy paused, deciding what to say next. “As you can see, we are not so… _insignificant_.” She looked at Daydra’s uncle for a lingering moment.

“I heard Quake is quite dangerous,” he kept looking back at Daisy with an interest and knowing grin.

“Only when provoked,” Daisy let him know with a glare. Daniel smiled proudly.

“I think she’s cool,” Daydra spoke up and everyone turned to her questioningly. She just shrugged. “Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I believe I wanted to ask which alien race did help Terra the most? Who are your best allies?”

“Probably Asgardians. Thor is a part of a group called the Avengers. They consist of different people…powered or not. They protect the Earth as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. does,” Daisy explained. “He helped us a lot and everyone loves him. That’s why we let them all stay after Asgard got destroyed.”

“Huh, so Asgardians now reside on Terra. Interesting,” the Princess said, lost in thought.

When it seemed like no one is going to say anything, Daniel decided to change the subject. “Uhm, the director was really interested in that teleporting device of yours. Could you maybe tell us more about it?”

“Ah! The interstellar and interdimensional teleportation device! That’s really something, isn’t it,” Daydra’s uncle joined the conversation enthusiastically.

Daniel could see how Daydra shot her uncle a warning glare which he seemed to completely ignore and continued, smiling triumphantly.

“Did you know that we hadn’t actually come up with the technology of it? No?” He asked with a raised eyebrow like he was expecting an answer. But he wasn’t, not really. “That is a great story to tell, isn’t it, my dear Daydra?”

“What are you doing?” She demanded keeping her voice level.

“Entertaining our dear guests,” he told her before his focus shifted to the three humans in front of him. “The device is modeled after a really old artifact that somehow came into our possession hundreds of years ago. It was Asgardian,” he whispered mysteriously like he just revealed some huge secret.

The agents shared a surprised look.

“It took us years to understand at least a bit of how it worked and when we did- “

“You stole their tech,” Kora spoke up, cutting him off. Some of the advisers seemed offended by the accusation.

“Which a friend of ours did, too,” Daisy tried to save the situation, looking from Kora to the Princess. “Honestly, we wouldn’t be able to travel through space if we didn’t get our hands on the jump drive from a crashed Confederacy ship. Our scientist then created his own version after he found out how it worked.”

“But Confederacy was destroyed by Chronicoms, right? And the jump drive is the most used tech in the universe for crossing long distances between planets. There’s no harm done in salvaging something from a crashed spaceship,” Kora tried to explain the difference. “Asgardians are still out there and they lost everything. Their planet, their friends and families, their homes, their tech. When they arrived on Earth, their only belongings were the clothes they were currently wearing,” she paused for a moment studying her hands. “I…I know how that feels…and now you say that you have something that belongs to them.”

“We didn’t steal it, Agent Kora,” Daydra was defending their past actions. “We came across it by accident.”

“Maybe, but you had it in your possession for hundreds of years and have never returned it,” Kora pointed out. “That…doesn’t sit well with me.”

Daniel could see the reasoning behind her words.

“And you were withholding the fact that you have powered individuals,” one of the advisers, Tobis, protested. “That does not sit well with us.”

“We would get to that point and tell you,” Daisy said, trying to remain calm.

“Really? Would you?” Daydra’s uncle asked doubtfully. “Then why haven’t you revealed your full identity, Quake?”

At that moment the advisers started to shout over each other in frustration and outrage. Daniel tensed up, looking at Daisy and Kora in alarm, getting ready to bolt if Daisy decided to do so. Then he was hit by a dark thought – they have no way to get off this planet if things go south. Sagittarians brought them here and only they can bring them back to Earth. This was a really stupid idea.

“How did it go this bad this fast?” Daisy mumbled, mostly to herself.

The Princess was trying to calm her advisers down but at that point, it wasn’t very likely. Her uncle on the other hand looked like he was enjoying the scene before him. Leisurely seated in his chair, he wasn’t doing enough to hide that satisfied grin on his face. Daniel was sure he was planning to disrupt the meeting and destroy the chance of alliance from the beginning.

“This,” his voice boomed in the chamber as he stood up, “is exactly what I’ve been telling you all along. My niece is not a good leader to our people. Just look at her reckless decisions. Allying us with Terrans? People, who can’t even be honest and who send a weapon of mass destruction on a diplomatic visit!”

“I beg your pardon!” Daisy raised her voice, offended.

“Augus is right!” Desmon called, hitting his fist into the table with force.

“No, he isn’t! This is what he always wanted. To turn our back on Daydra. He’s manipulating us!” Thalira tried to reason with him.

“But he has a point!” Anahi joined in.

“We can’t ally with Terrans!” Tobis spoke up angrily.

“No. No, we can’t. And we can’t let them leave, either. You told them too much,” Daydra’s uncle, Augus, declared.

“Is this a good time to start to panic?” Kora muttered quietly, leaning towards Daisy.

“We have no way to get out of here,” Daniel informed them, his brain running a hundred miles per hour trying to find a solution.

Daisy stood up and so did her two companions. She was staring at something behind the arguing group of Sagittarians. Daydra was talking to Captain Brodin hurriedly, clearly giving him some orders. A minute later he disappeared quietly through the door and she sent a small nod of reassurance towards the three humans.

“Will you really listen to him? The one who is secretly teaming up with our enemies just to have his way?” Daydra spoke to her advisers urgently, before looking over to her uncle. “Did you really think I won’t find out? After all those years?”

“I really didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this,” Daisy groaned, but stayed on high alert, waiting for any signal from the Princess.

“Tell me, uncle, what did the Kree promise you?”

But Augus just sneered at his niece. Then the doors burst open. Ten Sagittarian soldiers marched in and took their place at Augus’s side, waiting for his orders. The trio of agents took a small step back, calculating their chance at getting out of this.

“That doesn’t matter because they will give me even more when I deliver them Quake,” he revealed, sending a quick look towards Daisy. “They have some kind of obsession with her.”

Daniel looked worriedly at her, fighting with his instinct to shield her from danger. She can take care of herself and he would be just getting in her way. But he couldn’t miss the way she paled for a brief second at the mention of Kree.

“What gives you the impression you are going to catch me?” Daisy remarked with a self-conscious smile.

Few things happened in a span of seconds. Augus, with his lopsided grin, motioned for his soldiers to arrest the humans. The side doors flew open. The soldiers started to march towards Daisy, Daniel and Kora. Daisy raised her hand ready to quake them away. Captain Brodin and some of the royal guards came running into the chamber. The three agents finally received a signal from Daydra, who mouthed “run”.

They ran towards the side door where they were met by the Princess and the Captain.

“Follow us,” Daydra spoke and darted through the door. They complied without a second thought, being followed by Captain Brodin, who left his men to deal with the soldiers. However, they didn’t run far. When they turned the corner of the first corridor, they were met by another five soldiers. They immediately raised their guns at the group but didn’t get the chance to fire. Before their fingers pulled the trigger, they were hit by Daisy’s quake which left them flying into a wall.

Daydra turned around to look at Daisy, her mouth open in surprise, and a look of admiration in her eyes. “I really am a fan,” she said.

“Thanks,” Daisy replied with a smile. “So, what now?”

Daydra just motioned to follow her and started down the corridor.

“We are gonna get you home,” she said after a moment of walking. “We can deal with them. I have far more people on my side than my uncle has. I was kind of expecting him to stab me into the back, sooner or later.”

“I don’t want to doubt your decision, but we can help you,” Daisy offered as they neared another corner.

“We can handle this. I still want the alliance between us to happen, so I need you to get home safely,” the Princess paused, cautiously looking around the corner,” so we can discuss it again when things calm down.”

Daisy wanted to protest more but was distracted by a loud banging of boots on the floor of the corridor. She turned around so fast she almost got whiplash. There were almost twenty soldiers coming their way. Kora crouched down, sending a wave of fire along the floor. After the first four soldiers caught ablaze, Daisy sent a quake that knocked another eight. It was like bowling. But in this case, the cones were being replaced by the new ones more quickly as other soldiers poured towards them.

“We’ll hold them off!” Daydra announced readying her gun and checking her daggers. “Go!”

“There’s too much of them,” Daisy protested and caught a movement coming from another corridor. Two guards were coming to help them.

“I mean it, go! Straight ahead, the second corridor to the left,” she paused as she fired at incoming soldiers, while Kora set another two on fire, “and fifth door to the right. You won’t miss it. It’s double doors. When you get there take the teleporting device, it will get you home,” she continued and when Captain and the guards attacked the soldiers, she pulled the agents aside to give them specific instructions how to operate the device. “Good luck,” and with that, she readied her gun again and turned the corner.

Daisy, Daniel and Kora sprinted down the corridor in search of the device. They turned the corner of the second corridor as Daydra told them but as they reached the door four soldiers emerged at the end of the hall.

“Was it the fifth door on the right or the left side?” Daniel asked hurriedly.

“She said it was double doors,” Daisy said as she dismantled the guns of the soldiers with her powers.

“Well, there are two double doors on opposite sides,” Kora observed. “I think it was the left side.”

“Well, it better be ‘cause we won’t reach the other one,” Daisy muttered, seeing as more soldiers joined the fight.

“We are surrounded,” Daniel informed them. “They had to know we’ll come this way.”

Daisy opened the double doors and all three of them stormed inside the room. Daniel closed them quickly as Daisy and Kora hauled a table to block it. Daniel found a metal rod and put it through the handles.

“That’s not gonna hold them for long,” Kora said. “I have an idea.” She jumped on the table and proceeded to melt the door wings together.

“Kora that won’t help. There’s glass in the door. They can break through,” Daisy told her, trying to catch her breath.

“Right,” Kora mumbled sheepishly.

Meanwhile, Daniel inspected the room they found themselves in. It looked almost like some sort of a lab. But it was too clean like it wasn’t used in many years. No tools lying around or anything, really. At the other end of the room, just over one of the workstations was another sliding glass door. He was startled from his thoughts by loud banging on the door behind him.

“We don’t have much time,” Daisy told him, standing close to his side.

“Let’s check there,” he pointed towards the door.

“This really wasn’t how I expected today to go,” Daisy said sadly, walking next to him.

“None of us did,” Daniel noted as he stepped through the door, which opened automatically. “Just another day at S.H.I.E.L.D.” He looked at her with a small smile.

“Yeah,” she sighed, running her hand down her face, before turning around and calling out for Kora to join them. “That’s the device, right?” She pointed towards a sphere-shaped object on the table.

“Looks like it. Although this has a different color,” Daniel remarked, stepping closer to it.

“Maybe they design it in different colors, you know. Sort of like ‘This one is not matching the armor I am wearing today, so let’s take the green one, instead’,” Daisy grinned at Daniel, who smiled back at her.

“Or like ‘This is not matching with the mood I have today so I think we have to fabricate it in black too’,” Kora added, joining the two agents in the small room.

Both Daisy and Daniel shook their heads at the younger agent, amused smiles still playing on their lips. Daisy then picked the device carefully and Daniel and Kora got closer, forming a tight circle. The sphere reacted to her touch and blue lines appeared on it, almost looking like veins.

“So how does it work?” Kora asked curiously. “I wasn’t really listening before.”

Daisy rolled her eyes exasperatedly. “Just think of going home. That’s what Daydra said.”

They were interrupted by a loud crash. The soldiers finally broke through the door. The agents were running out of time.

“Okay, so, now or never,” Daisy said nervously, looking from Daniel to Kora.

“Home?” Kora asked unsure, her voice trembling a little as she could hear the approaching soldiers.

“Home.”

And everything disappeared in the blue light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some chapters will be shorter and some will be longer depending on the particular story within the chapter. I am currently working on multiple chapters at once.
> 
> FYI, both planets mentioned here exist in the MCU (Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2). Sagittarians are from the comics including Princess Daydra and her Uncle (his name - Augus - is made up).
> 
> Anyway, that's it with the "intro" into the story. Next week we are diving in deep. So, until then, bye! Stay safe, guys!


	3. The Taste of the Pristine Nature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I hope you are having a nice week despite all the stuff that is currently going on in the world. Anyway, here is another chapter that will hopefully help you get away from the reality for a little while. So sorry I didn't upload it yesterday but I was dealing with some work-related problems for the past week.  
> Thanks for all the comments on the previous chapter and I hope you'll enjoy this one as well.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes.

It was a hot sunny day. A light breeze was grazing the treetops of the forest. The peaceful rustling of the leaves was accompanied by a variety of animal sounds, ranging from a soft chirping and whistling to a loud screeching that carried through the forest. All the animals were minding their own business, whether it was a search for a suitable tasty lunch, a cleaning after devouring their prey, or a nap in the shadows cast by the huge trees that blocked the piercing rays of the midday sun. A small rat-like mammal sauntered its way across a small clearing and disappeared under a tree trunk.

Suddenly, bright blue light spread from the middle of the clearing and startled a flock of birds sitting on a nearby tree. The fading light revealed three figures standing in a circle around a spherical object, clearly confused by their surroundings, as could be judged by their perplexed expressions.

“Where the hell are we?” Daisy asked, frantically looking around. “This doesn't look like D.C.”

“Well, we all did think about Earth, didn't we?” Daniel spoke up while running his hand along the trunk of an enormous tree in awe.

“You guys said to think about home,” Kora spoke up from her crouched position, examining the soil.

Suddenly the trio was interrupted by a loud screeching from somewhere in the treetops.

“What was that?” Kora jumped up ready to fire an energy blast.

“I have no idea. But it definitely didn't sound friendly,” Daniel said quietly, quickly pulling out his gun from the shoulder holster and aiming it into the tree.

“Where…where’s Daisy?” Kora asked, alarmed.

Daniel spun around to look at the place he’s seen Daisy standing just a minute ago, panic filling his mind. But before he had a chance to call out her name -

“Uhm…guys?! You better see this right now,” Daisy called from somewhere behind the nearby bushes.

Daniel and Kora shared a relieved look before walking in the direction of Daisy's voice. Daniel held up some branches blocking their way and motioned for Kora to walk first before casting one last wary glance in the treetops and followed after her.

They found Daisy standing in a large hole. At least it looked like a normal hole at first but then their eyes scanned its shape and met Daisy's panicked brown eyes.

“Is that...” Daniel started but let it hang in the air.

“A footprint?” Kora piped up.

“Yeah. A really huge one,” Daisy nodded and curled her hand into a fist.

„It looks like it's from…a very big...reptile.” Daniel carefully stepped into the footprint inspecting every curve imprinted in the ground. He stopped at Daisy's side and took her hand in his in a calming manner. She loosened her fist and let him intertwine their fingers. He wasn't sure whom that gesture was supposed to calm more, Daisy or himself.

“Daydra...she said that...that the device is extremely sensitive so we have to give it a very specific command with our minds.” Daisy looked at him while a shiver ran down her spine. Something went very, very wrong.

“I thought of Earth,” Daniel said with a shrug.

“That is not very specific. I thought of HQ in D.C.” Daisy spoke up turning to face Kora.

“What? As I said, I thought of home.”

“Kora...that's...” Daisy ran her hand down her face with a sigh. “Which home?”

“Just home. Uh...but then...” Kora mumbled and the color drained from her face as she came to a realization.

“Then what?” Daisy barked out, her voice coming up a few octaves.

“I... I thought of the Afterlife in my original timeline and mom...” Kora carefully looked up at Daisy who was looking at her incredulously. She threw her arms up and started to pace around agitatedly. “I just got distracted by the memory, OK?! I was trying so much to concentrate which was really hard with the soldiers coming for us!”

“Kora,” Daniel said warily as he exchanged a worried look with Daisy upon hearing some rustling in the bushes behind Kora.

“But I was so nervous about the whole situation and...” Kora ignored him and continued in her rambling.

“Kora! Be quiet!” Daisy whisper-yelled at her.

“...I didn't want to mess up...”

The bush behind Kora parted and an animal with the size of a large turkey emerged out of it. Its body was covered in feathers and it had an elongated head, a long tail and a big claw on each hindfoot. Its yellowish eyes scanned the scene in front with curiosity.

By then Kora finally noticed the warning glances Daisy and Daniel were sending her and slowly turned around to face the curious animal. Her eyes grew wide upon seeing it and she started to back away, slowly raising her hands in case she had to blast it away.

“What the hell is that?” She whispered when she reached her teammates. “Is it a bird?”

The feathered animal emitted a screeching sound exposing the row of sharp teeth in its maw.

“Or a reptile?” Daniel whispered back.

Daisy swallowed hard as a thought occurred to her. “Or both.”

Daniel gave her a questioning look but they were soon distracted by the animal which now clearly lost its interest in them, probably by considering them to be too big to be a potential lunch. It screeched again and disappeared into the bush.

“I hope it didn't go fetch the reinforcements,” Daniel noted and turned towards Daisy while his gun remained securely in his hand. “What did you mean by it being both a bird and a reptile?”

Daisy looked at him in thought, then she scanned the flora around them again. Her eyes landed on a huge tree-like fern towering above them and then looked past it, deeper into the forest.

“I think we are on Earth, after all. We all thought of it. But we didn't think about the same location or...time for that matter,” she looked pointedly at Kora.

“Hey! It's not-”

“Shut it!” Daisy sighed, frustrated. “I think the device got confused by that and we ended up here.”

“Where is _here_?” Daniel asked apprehensively, not really wanting to know the answer.

“In the past. But the very, very…very far past. God…I think we are in the age of the dinosaurs.”

“But that was hundreds of millions of years ago!” Kora spoke up in shock.

There was quiet among the teammates while they let the words sink in, leaving only the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves around them and the distant cries of some animals.

“We can just jump out of here right now, no problem,” Daisy pointed out, seeing their panicked faces. “Let's just use the device again.”

“Okay. Let's get back to it.” Daniel snapped out of the shock first and led the way back to the clearing they arrived at.

“This time we just have to think about the exact same location and time, understood?” Daisy ordered, looking behind her at Kora pointedly. Her sister seemed rather quiet now but nodded in understanding. Daisy was about to say something else when she suddenly ran straight into Daniel's back.

“What the...” She looked at him confused as he stood there frozen and then followed his line of sight until-

“Where is it? Where is the device?” She asked anxiously, stepping on the clearing, looking around.

“It was right here.” Daniel pointed at a small dent in the ground before crouching down inspecting it. “Are those claw marks?”

Hearing that, Daisy joined him on the ground. “You want to say… _that thing_ took our only way out of here?”

“It did look like a big egg,” he noted with a sigh.

Daisy plopped down and ran her hand through her hair agitatedly. A humorless laugh escaped her lips, her eyes fixed on the dent in the ground.

Daniel put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly before he sat down too, his eyes never leaving her face.

Kora remained standing nearby, looking at her feet with slouched shoulders.

“We are screwed.”

Tracking the bird-like dinosaur through the prehistoric forest turned out to be pretty hard to accomplish. The three agents were walking in line, sending cautious glances in all directions. Daniel took the lead, searching for more claw marks to point them in the right direction, Daisy was trailing behind him, not saying much, and Kora was last, her previous panicked expression transformed into one of awe as she took in everything around them. They were running high on adrenaline, easily startled by unexpected noises from bushes or fern growth around them.

“We just need to find a vantage point and assess the situation from there,” Daniel said with a sigh when they took a short break after two hours of unsuccessful tracking. They lost the last tracks a while ago in a particularly thick part of the undergrowth.

Kora was sitting on a fallen tree trunk, her leather jacket placed between her and Daisy. “Great. If only it wasn’t that hot,” she groaned, her previous excitement long gone, as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “How is it gonna help us, huh? Even if we find…I don’t know…a cliff or…a suitable tree to climb up to, all we are gonna see is just more trees…but _this_ time from above.”

Daniel sighed, his right leg placed on a tree stump, and looked at Daisy. She was leaning her elbows on her knees and her face was hidden in the palms of her hands. She took off her gauntlets and the jacket of her suit which left her only in a black tank top. Daniel’s forehead wrinkled in worry at the sight of her. She was uncharacteristically quiet.

“We should find some water first,” he suggested. The heat was wearing them down too quickly and the last thing they needed was to get dehydrated. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find our thief there. There must be a small stream or a river or something.”

“Yeah…but also…I don’t want to catch some prehistoric bug from unfiltered water,” Kora mumbled.

“You weren’t concerned about catching a space bug from unfiltered water when we were on Orilia,” Daniel pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Would you rather get dehydrated?”

“No,” Kora muttered and stretched her legs.

“Dais? You OK?” Daniel leaned closer to her and brushed his fingers along her forearm tenderly.

Daisy took a deep breath and looked up at him with a ghost of a smile. “I’m fine.”

“Are you ready to go?” He asked her softly, searching her eyes for an honest answer.

She gave him a small smile and nodded, standing up from the tree trunk, dusting off her trousers from dirt and pieces of plants.

“But he doesn’t ask me if I’m ready,” Kora mumbled under her breath.

Daniel sent her an amused look. “Are you ready, Kora?” He asked her with a grin and offered her his hand.

“No, I am not,” she told him and accepted his help. “But let’s go anyway,” she smiled as Daniel pulled her up. She took her jacket and fastened it around her waist while Daniel shifted his attention towards Daisy again. Kora looked at her sister in thought. She wasn’t herself and of course, Daniel could sense that something was bothering her. So, she decided she should give them some space to talk it out. “I can go first this time,” she offered.

Daniel gave her a grateful smile. “OK. Try to listen for any signs of water and watch out for insects, the more of them the closer the water source is. The same goes for animal tracks,” he informed her.

Kora nodded, thinking. “So, which way?”

“Well, we are on a slope and the water runs downhill…”

“Yeah, right,” Kora sighed, doubting her decision to lead them.

“You’ll do just fine, Kora,” Daniel assured her. “Just follow ditches or valleys. We want to find running water, less chance of bacteria in it. And…we are right behind you.”

“Fine then. Let’s go,” Kora announced with fake excitement. “If I was annoying feathered little shit who stole an egg-like object, which way would I probably go?” She asked herself quietly and choose the less steep way down.

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Kora looked behind her from time to time, to check on Daisy and Daniel, but kept her eyes on the ground most of the time. She put on a brave face when she volunteered to lead them but in reality, she was freaking out. A little. The silence was unnerving. What do people say when you are going on a hike in a dense forest? Don’t go alone and don’t be quiet. You don’t want to surprise a bear and get attacked. Somehow, she doubted the same worked for dinosaurs. But who can say what works for them and what doesn’t? No one has ever met a living dinosaur before. She swallowed. She really didn’t want to be the first one to meet a giant one.

Suddenly, she felt a pinch on her forearm. There was a really big mosquito, just casually taking a sip of her blood. Kora sighed and fried it on the spot using her powers. Not a minute later, there was another pinch on her shoulder. She cursed and fried that little bastard too. A thought occurred to her then. Mosquitoes equal water. They must be getting closer to a stream or something. She stopped for a while and listened. She couldn’t hear any sounds of running water so either there must be a lake or a pond or the mosquitoes prefer small dents in the trees filled with water. She scanned the ground for any tracks. She found some smaller ones in the mud and there seemed to be some kind of a path. _If animals frequent this way, it has to lead somewhere_ , she thought.

“Have you found anything?” Daniel spoke from behind her, curious.

“Maybe,” she mused. “Come on, we’ll see soon enough.”

Daniel watched as Kora walked further away before he and Daisy followed after her. They walked side by side, their hands brushing from time to time. They were both on high alert, casting worried glances into the dense undergrowth but for Daniel, the thick foliage wasn’t the only source of his worries.

“So, what period do you think we traveled to?” He asked Daisy casually.

“I have no idea,” she answered briefly, looking sideways.

“I hope it’s not like in those movies you showed me,” he muttered, hoping to get her talking more.

“The Jurassic Park series?” She let out a small laugh. “No, they exaggerated quite a lot in them. Many dinosaurs didn’t look like they actually did in reality. Some were made bigger, scarier. Like the one who stole the teleporting device. I think it was a raptor. I’m not sure, though. In the movies, they were much bigger. Featherless. But some…were pretty on point,” she sighed and looked behind them.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked hazily.

“I mean…if we are indeed in North America as we wanted to be and not…Asia, thanks to Kora, there is at least one dinosaur I’d like to evade. Well, depending on the period we are in. That one is as scary as it was in the movies. I’m getting goosebumps only from thinking about that one,” she ran her hands over her arms in a nervous manner. “I’m not even gonna say its name out loud. I brought us enough bad luck as it is.”

Daniel sighed. “So, that’s what this is about, huh?”

“What?” Daisy looked at him, confused.

“You being all quiet and…resigned,” he explained with an edge to his voice, staring intently at her. “You are blaming yourself for this mess, once again.”

She remained silent, not even looking at him. He took that as a confirmation. Her long locks were falling into her face, hiding her sad expression from him.

“Daisy,” he sighed and took her hand in his. “You’ve got to stop doing that every time something goes wrong.”

“I am the team leader, commander of Zephyr Three. There is no one else to blame but me,” she burst out, locking her eyes with his as she stopped walking. “I am…not a good leader, Daniel.”

“Where is this coming from? Daisy, you are a great leader. I’d follow you anywhe-”

“Yeah, but you are not being objective. Neither is Kora so don’t even look at her,” Daisy told him raising her voice, taking her hand from his. “How many times the mission went to hell in the past six months? We were given this big responsibility, exploring space, being emissaries, finding new allies. How many times we almost started a war instead? One time is too much.”

“Daisy-”

“No! Augus was right!” Daisy called out raising her hands in defeat. “One does not simply bring a weapon of mass destruction to a meeting about alliance!” She sighed and shook her head. “Did I just use that meme quote from Lord of the…” she mumbled to herself. “You know what, whatever. Look at this,” she motioned around them frantically. “ _This_ is probably the biggest mess so far. And it happened all because of me… _again_. I’m just…tired of not being good enough,” she confessed and that defeated tone in her voice hurt Daniel more than anger would. She turned away from him and ran her hand through her hair frustratingly.

But Daniel was having none of it. He was angry. He didn’t even know at what or who. Maybe the anger was directed at everyone who has ever made Daisy feel less of a person. Or at the universe that kept hurtling disasters at them even in the time when they should be happy and enjoy a few quiet moments together. He knows that Daisy has these moments when she doubts herself. After every failed mission. She keeps it to herself so no one would see her like that. But he does, and he is always there to remind her who she is. He’ll never stop doing it.

He saw Kora leaning against a tree further away from them, with a pained expression on her face. They were both hurting for Daisy. She gave him a nod and disappeared behind a big fern to give them more privacy.

“Daisy, look at me,” he told her with a soft but urgent voice, and turned her around, keeping his hands on her arms. “Human or inhuman, we all make mistakes. We all blame ourselves for them but what you are doing… It’s not right. You are blaming yourself for mistakes that are not yours, for problems that you had nothing to do with or decisions that you weren’t a part of.” He raised his hand to wipe away a tear that escaped her eye.

“But-”

“No. You are gonna let me finish without cutting in. I have a whole speech ready,” he said with a smile.

Daisy chuckled and sniffled.

“The incident with the handshake on Vorix was my fault, not yours,” he squeezed her shoulders to emphasize it. “When someone hates Inhumans, that is also not your fault. Neither is this mission,” he assured her and moved his hands to hold hers. “Firstly, we were following Mack’s orders. Secondly, Augus came to the meeting with the sole purpose of disrupting the alliance. And thirdly…you can’t possibly blame yourself for using an alien teleportation device for the first time and messing up. So…don't doubt yourself. You are the most capable person I know.”

“That was a different speech than the last time,” she told him with a raised eyebrow, a small smile playing on her lips.

“You know, I have to change it from time to time, so it doesn’t get boring. And also, I need to address the newest problem that led us to have this conversation in the first place,” he grinned at her, his hand gently cupping her cheek.

Daisy leaned into his touch and closed her eyes for a moment. “Thank you.” Then she closed the short gap between them and got lost in his warm embrace.

“For what?” Daniel asked quietly, placing a kiss on her forehead.

“For being my light in the darkness,” she mumbled, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

Daniel smiled, content in their small moment. “Always.”

Suddenly the nearby ferns parted and super excited Kora jumped out of them. “You guys, I found water!”

Daisy yelped and automatically took her fighting stance and Daniel pulled out his gun from the holster, both looking extremely alarmed and ready to fire.

“No need to be this hostile. I’ll show you where it is out of my own free will,” Kora muttered teasingly with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Kora! You almost gave us a heart attack!” Daisy yelled at her younger sister.

“Nah, you are safe. The grandpa next to you should be more concerned,” she remarked and turned on her heel. “You coming or what?”

“I swear to God she’s the worst,” Daisy said while Daniel just laughed.

It didn’t take long for the three agents to reach the water source Kora’s found. It was a smaller stream that was flowing into a bigger one a few hundred meters further down the hill from where they stood. The water was crystal clear and the thought of finally quenching their thirst made the agents excited. Daisy kneeled on the ground and cupping her hands scooped up the water. Daniel did the same while Kora watched them, with a smile.

“Tasty, right?” She spoke up, amused.

“Refreshing,” Daisy said with a content sigh, splashing some water over her face, too.

“This is probably the best water, I’ve ever drunk,” Daniel informed them, scooping some more water to drink.

“Well, no pollution, just pristine nature. No wonder it tastes like heaven,” Daisy commented.

“We should come up with a brand name and use that as a slogan,” Kora chuckled. “Hmm…how about…Jurassic Spring, no pollution, just the taste of the pristine nature.”

“Or…Jurassic Spring, the true taste of the prehistoric forest,” Daisy added with a wide grin.

Daniel smiled at the sisters, shaking his head slightly. “Have you ever wondered what the prehistoric forest feels like? Try Jurassic Spring. No pollution, just the taste of the pristine nature.”

“Oh, you win, Danny-boy. You just came up with the whole commercial,” Kora laughed and high-fived him. “We should start our own marketing agency.”

“Yeah. Galaxy-wide, ideally,” Daisy joked, now sitting cross-legged on the ground. “Astro Ambassadors – Galaxy at your fingertips.”

“Wow. That actually sounds great. We could use it as a side job to earn more money,” Kora mused, already imagining it. A few seconds later she was brought back to reality by a splash of water from her sister. “Hey!”

Daisy chucked and pointed towards the stream next to her. “You are not thirsty?”

“I’ve already had some,” Kora shrugged as she stepped closer to the water. “But I might as well have some more. We don’t know when we find another stream.” She crouched down and dipped her hand into the water. After a few refreshing gulps, she looked conspiratorially at Daisy and grinned, splashing twice as much water on her as she did on Kora.

“Kora!” Daisy yelled, standing up from the ground, ready to quake the whole stream at her sister.

“Do you hear that?” Daniel cut in, suddenly.

“What?” Kora asked, confused.

“Exactly,” Daniel noted, looking at her with worry.

Daisy listened carefully to their surroundings but didn’t hear anything unusual. Well, except-

“It’s too quiet.”

She felt it at first. A shiver running down her spine and the feeling of dread settling in the pit of her stomach. The quiet around them getting even more pronounced. She looked around cautiously. Daniel and Kora stood behind her, doing the same. Time seemed to slow down…

Then she heard it. A deep throaty drumming sound coming from the direction they came from. She looked up into the nearby undergrowth, and when she finally saw it, masked among the huge leaves, her heart stopped for a moment and her eyes widened in fear. She swallowed hard and forced a breath into her lungs, frozen in place. Judging from the lack of sound from her teammates she assumed they saw it too. She felt like a deer in the headlights. Unable to think or act. Her mind was totally blank, void of any thought.

If you asked her later, she wouldn’t be able to tell you what happened first. Maybe it was Daniel calling her name, pulling her backward, and shouting something at her. She couldn’t comprehend his words. Maybe it was the enormous beast emerging from its hide, its huge teeth coming closer towards them. Maybe it was Kora’s scream. Or maybe it all happened at once.

She only knows when she finally came to her senses. _Gauntlets. I need my gauntlets._ She saw them next to the stream, they were getting further away…no, she was being dragged further away from them.

“It’s too late for that! We need to move!” Daniel called urgently into her ear.

Did she say it out loud? She wasn’t sure, she was still a little dazed. But as she watched as a huge foot stomped on her gauntlets and saw the snap of those big jaws she was brought to her senses completely.

Suddenly a huge ball of energy hit the dinosaur into its side. It emitted another deep throaty sound but otherwise looked unharmed. Just pissed off.

“I think you made it worse!” Daniel called to Kora and started to run along the stream, dragging Daisy with him.

The creature started to chase after them. Well, not exactly chase per se. It was more like fast walking as Daisy observed. However, with its long legs, even its walking was as fast as their running.

“I don’t think we are gonna outrun it!” she exclaimed fearfully as they ducked under the fern growth. The animal just stomped right through it without a sweat.

“Do you want to fight it, then?!” Kora asked breathlessly.

“Maybe I can slow it down,” Daisy replied and send a quake towards the beast. It stopped for a moment, shocked, then shook it off and followed after them again. Daisy groaned and sent another, much stronger quake at it. She hissed as a pain shot through her arm. The dinosaur lost its balance and sprawled on the ground, headfirst.

“Nice,” Daniel commented and pulled at Daisy’s arm to get her moving again.

“Where are we even running?” Kora spoke up, exhaustion seeping into her voice. “I don’t think I can keep going like this for too long.”

“Neither can I,” Daniel huffed. “We have to come up with a plan!”

They looked briefly behind them. The dinosaur was back on its legs and getting closer to them.

“On second thought, running seems like a good plan,” Daisy commented as a group of smaller feathered raptors came running out of the bushes.

“They run faster than us,” Kora piped up when a bunch of them ran past her.

Daniel stopped to catch his breath, massaging his right thigh. Daisy sent another powerful quake, toppling the beast to its side. They were now in the wide open. Next to them, the small stream changed into a river and a grassy field laid ahead of them, only small patches of trees here and there. Not many places to hide in.

“How’s your leg?” Daisy asked worriedly, placing her hand on his back.

Daniel just waved it off and motioned towards the scrambling animal. “Is that what I think it is?”

“A T-Rex?” Daisy asked, breathing heavily. “Well, considering the tiny arms, huge teeth, and the overall size of its body…I would say that yes.”

“I wouldn’t think it’s going to have feathers on the top of its head,” he remarked as he straightened up.

“I wouldn’t think I am actually gonna come face to face with it in the first place, yet here we are,” Daisy sighed. “The only good thing is that now I might know in which period we are.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing, but it’s totally useless,” Kora grumbled with a mixture of emotions in her voice.

“Let’s just hope the asteroid is not gonna hit the Earth today. That’s all,” Daisy muttered lightly as she sent another quake at the T-Rex. “But with our luck…”

Kora’s face paled a little. “What?!”

Daisy was about to bite something back when her eyes caught a reflection on a metallic object, not so far from the angry beast. “That can’t be…”

“What?” Both Daniel and Kora asked at once.

Daisy thought back on the animals that ran out of the bushes after getting startled by the big raging monster. Only now she realized that some of those looked exactly like the one that stole their teleporting device.

“Guys, look!” She pointed towards the metallic object on the ground.

“Oh my God,” Daniel breathed in disbelief and turned to look at Daisy with hope in his eyes.

She gave him a big smile in return and squeezed his hand. “We can go home.”

“Not if the Godzilla here crushes it with its foot,” Kora spoke up alarmed, as the T-Rex took few more steps towards them, coming closer to the device too.

“We need a plan,” Daniel said.

“There’s no time for that,” Daisy told him and started to walk towards the enormous creature. “We have to split up. Divert its attention.”

Daniel wanted to protest but he knew very well that there was no stopping her now. “So, I’ll guess we improvise.”

All three of them ran towards their impending doom, hoping they survive it. Daisy’s eyes were fixed solely on the prize – the device. Daniel pulled out his guns, not being sure if they’ll do any damage to the beast at all. Kora looked the T-Rex over, searching for a vulnerable spot where her blasts would hurt the most. The problem was, the animal was not only hungry but after being quaked to the ground multiple times, it was now full of rage.

Daisy almost reached the device when the dinosaur took a big step in her direction and its jaws clicked just a few inches from her head while she dived to the ground, ending the fall with a roll. She ended up in front of the device and grabbed it securely in her hands. Only then she realized that she is also right under the beast, which turned its attention towards Kora and her energy blasts. Daisy yelped and rolled away from her place, narrowly avoiding being crushed. She scrambled to her feet, preparing to throw the device to Daniel when she got hit by the T-Rexes tail. It sent her flying through the air and she landed hard on the ground. She groaned and rolled onto her back.

“Daisy!” Daniel called as two shots were fired.

She looked up to see the beast turning its attention towards Daniel, instead of her. The device was nowhere near her. She realized that it must’ve got knocked out of her grasp.

“I have it!” Kora exclaimed, running to Daisy’s side. She helped her stand up.

Daisy assessed the situation in front of her. “Whatever we do, it’s just pissing the T-Rex off more.”

“I know.”

Daisy sent a quake towards the beast again, aiming for its legs. It toppled over. Without her gauntlets, she couldn’t risk going full power on the creature. There were already some bruises visible on her forearms.

“Daniel! Come here!” She called to him, keeping an eye on the T-Rex. “We just need to distract it for long enough to get out of here,” she told Kora.

“What do you have in mind?” Kora asked when Daniel finally got to them at the same time as the animal stood up, its jaws snapping angrily.

Daisy crouched to the ground, placing her hands down into the grass.

“Whatever you are doing you better do it fast!” Daniel urged her impatiently.

She felt the vibrations of the soil first and then she went deeper feeling the rock. She concentrated her powers on it while trying to limit the vibrations in her arms. The ground started to shake. When she heard the crack, she smiled, turning her eyes towards the approaching dinosaur.

“Daisy! It’s coming in hot!” Kora yelled, clutching the device for dear life.

With another much louder crack, the ground opened in front of them and the surprised animal fell into the rift. Daisy straightened up and dusted her trousers.

“You guys OK?”

Kora was looking at her incredulously. “You couldn’t have done that _earlier_?”

“You know, it’s kind of hard to think when someone is scared out of their mind,” Daisy stated and reached for the device. “Now let’s get out of here.”

The agents stood in a circle again ready to jump away, listening to the rumbling sounds of the trapped dinosaur. The rift wasn’t too deep, so eventually, it was going to get out. They definitely didn’t want to stay long enough to see that happen.

“I hope it’s not broken,” Daisy mumbled scanning the sphere for any damage, missing Kora’s panicked expression. “We have to concentrate on the same place, don’t forget that. HQ is probably the best bet.”

“On three?” Kora asked.

“Fine,” Daisy mumbled as the blue lines appeared on the sphere.

“One.”

She looked at Kora encouragingly.

“Two.”

Then her eyes met Daniel’s and she let out her breath shakily.

“Three.”

Everything disappeared in the blue light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did they finally manage to get home? Ehehe, I am not going to make it that easy for them. More adventures await. Speaking of...now is your time to give me ideas. I have a few more chapters planned and I know where this is all going (since I've already finished one of the two/three last chapters) but there can be more adventures in between. So, if you guys think of any time periods you would like to see them in and any characters for them to interact with (from Marvel or just the history), feel free to write it in the comments.
> 
> This chapter was really fun to write, even if it took more time than I thought. I did a lot of research, learned some new things about T-Rex, Velociraptors, and the Late Cretaceous period. I read in an article that the sounds T-Rex probably emitted might've been similar to those of Emu. So, that's how I put it in the story. Also, the adults probably had feathers on their head and tail and were completely covered in them as young hatchlings.
> 
> Anyhow, that's enough of my rambling about Dinosaurs. See you guys next week and please leave kudos or a comment (with your ideas, I'd like to hear them). Stay safe!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave kudos or comments, they mean the world to me.


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